The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA) directs the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to make regulations move more quickly with respect to new nuclear reactors and to establish a better and faster licensing structure for advanced nuclear reactors. It was signed by the President and became law last week on January 14th.

The 361 to 10 vote to approve in the House indicated a pretty high level of bipartisanship, as did the unanimous consent with a voice vote in the Senate.

NEIMA also imposes a cap on the NRC’s annual fees for existing reactors, with adjustments for inflation, to ensure the operating fleet is not unjustly impacted as reactors go offline.

The other law is the Nuclear Energy Innovation Capabilities Act (NEICA) that became law last September. NEICA updates the mission and objectives of the Department of Energy’s civilian nuclear energy programs, particularly supporting the deployment of advanced reactors and developing a reactor-based fast neutron source for the testing of advanced reactor fuels and materials.

NEICAshould speed up the development of advanced reactors in the United States by eliminating some of the financial and technological barriers that have previously slowed nuclear innovation to a crawl. NEICA commits the government to support the commercial nuclear sector, fostering cost-sharing and partnerships between government and the private sector that will help small companies.

This is important since every leading climate scientist in the world urgently calls for increased nuclear power to address global warming. And the new designs are perfect for that.

This effort will also help the United States maintain its nuclear leadership in the world.

Looking into the core of the Advanced Test Reactor at Idaho National Laboratory, a critical capability to develop and test new reactor designs envisioned by new nuclear legislation that recently became law. Cherenkov Radiation, the blue glow in all operating reactors, is emitted when charged particles move faster than the speed of light in the water, kind of like jets breaking the sound barrier in air, except it’s for light.DOE

“There are some truly transformative advanced nuclear technologies being developed in America right now and this bill just reinforces this Administration’s continued efforts to revitalize the nuclear industry,” said Ed McGinnis, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Office of Nuclear Energy.

Idaho National Laboratory is slated to build a fast nuclear test reactor called the Versatile Irradiation Test Reactor (VITR) that will be able to operate and test new types of nuclear reactors, particularly the fast reactors that will get ten times the energy of existing reactors and create nuclear waste that is easier to handle and isn’t hot for very long.

Another recent milestone occurred last week when DOE completed an environmental assessment that clears the way for the fabrication of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel for advanced nuclear reactors, also at the Idaho National Laboratory. HALEU fuel is less than 20% U-235, still well-below the highly-enriched material used in weapons, but is necessary for many of the new reactors. Existing commercial reactors use fuel enriched to about 5% U-235.

Now Secretary of Energy Rick Perry has six months to provide Congress with a report assessing the capabilities of DOE to host and operate experimental advanced nuclear reactors at our national labs and other government sites. The Secretary will also submit two 10-year budget plans for nuclear research and development.

I have been a scientist in the field of the earth and environmental sciences for 33 years, specializing in geologic disposal of nuclear waste, energy-related research, planetary surface processes, radiobiology and shielding for space colonies, subsurface transport and envir...